New faces raise the bar

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Ranchi, May 7: The mandate of the second Jharkhand State Bar Council election, which emerged after the counting process ended yesterday, has imbibed fresh blood that will govern the legal think tank for the next five years.

In the 25-member council, 18 are first-timers and aged between 38 and 48 years. Twelve lawyers are from the high court, including advocate-general A.K. Sinha who is ex officio member, while the rest represent district courts.

High court advocate Nilesh Kumar said greenhorns in the council would help usher in better working ambience for lawyers in the state. “Under the able guidance of our seniors, the new bar council will achieve its objectives,” he added.

Another young member of the council, A.K. Das, echoed similar feelings.

“As first-timers, our job will be to protect the interest of juniors who are new in the profession. We will find out ways to boost the young generation of lawyers and develop a competent bar in the state,” he said.

The second bar council polls were held on March 27 with around 16,000 lawyers on the electoral list across the state. As many as 100 candidates, including two women, had filed their nominations.

Counting started on April 10 and concluded yesterday. Several veteran advocates in the fray could not scale the cut-off fixed in the preferential counting system and lost the bar council battle.

Advocate Hemant Kumar Shikarwar from the high court said the election had proved that young lawyers, who had cast their votes, wanted a change.

“Much work needs to be done. Even after Jharkhand was formed in 2000, funds under the erstwhile Bihar State Bar Council were not divided. It is a long-standing issue that needs to be resolved on priority basis,” he said.